


Nidus

by Ramabear (RyMagnatar)



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Anal Sex, Belonging, Biting, Blow Job, Established Relationship, Hibird is adorable, Implied Relationships, Lambo is 13 so take that as an age reference, M/M, Not TYL but probably around eight or so, Sort of soft core sex pollen/harmonizing reaction, Swearing, harmonizing, rarepair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-04-04
Packaged: 2018-05-31 07:08:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6460648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RyMagnatar/pseuds/Ramabear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It took Xanxus two years to bring himself to Japan to visit Hibari instead of waiting for Hibari to come and visit him in Italy. Two years and the realization that he wanted more from their relationship than spontaneous visits that began with destructive fights and ended with them bloodied in bed. Once there, things that have been developing over time finally, finally, come to fruition.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nidus

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kattenprinsen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kattenprinsen/gifts).



> Ni·dus : ˈnīdəs/ Noun :  
> a place in which something is formed or deposited; a site of origin.

Hibari’s home was surrounded by a low stone wall and plenty of green land. Not plain sculpted green grass lawn, like a rich French fuck, but gardens. Well tended ones too, with flowers and shrubs and trees placed just so and a path that wandered in and out of sight. Xanxus frowned at the smooth stones as he walked up to the front door, one hand in his pocket, the other tapping at his leg in an absent display of nerves.

Rarely did he make time to come to Japan.

Never had he made the trip to this particular house.

He figured it was about time.

_Two years,_ he thinks as he took the step onto the porch, _two years and this is the first time I’ll have seen his house._

It’s the extension of a realization he had several months ago, in the middle of an afternoon. That had been the sudden clarity of knowledge that this relationship, strange as it was, had lasted longer and was more stable than any others he’d entertained in the five years prior. It had shifted into the cloudy and somewhat uncomfortable discovery that he’d depended on Hibari arriving to his home in Italy whenever it suited him best. Not that Xanxus found anything particularly awful about Hibari’s time table -in fact the other man was almost always around when Xanxus wanted him there and then pulled back at the time it became too much.

It was just time, Xanxus thought, that he returned the favor and show up, unannounced, to Hibari’s home.

Which was larger than he’d imagined. And very well maintained.

Xanxus was fairly good at spotting reconstructed parts of buildings, where windows and doors had been blown out and walls with holes knocked into them had been patched. There were no tell tale signs of new paint or mismatching wood or abrupt changes in any of the stone design. Hibari took care of his house, it seemed.

Xanxus smirked at this. _Of course he does. Kyoya takes care of all the things that belong to him._

He opened the door and stepped in. The line of shoes tucked into a little cubby told him the house was not empty, though the silence of the place pricked at Xanxus’s instincts. He was used to his own home, though, where silence meant either deathly trouble or that literally everyone was out at the same time.

Adding his own shoes to the collection, Xanxus walked in slowly.

There was a surprising lightness to the interior. Light from outside came in through open doorways and was carried from room to room through the thin paper walls. In the silence, besides the soft _thump_ of his socked feet on the floor, Xanxus heard the rustling of paper. He turned towards it and found a room with the door half open. Sliding the door open further, he looked in to see Kusakabe kneeling at a table, shuffling through some paperwork.

The man paused when the door opened and looked up. “Ah.” He blinked. “You must be here for Kyo-san.”

Xanxus nodded. “Is he here?”

“Yes. I’ll take you to him.” Kusakabe got up and stepped through another door, gesturing for Xanxus to follow.

He led him down a long hallway and to another room. Opening the door he gave a little bow of the head and stepped back.

Walking in, Xanxus was greeted first by a fluttering of wings and cheerful chirping. Sighing heavily, he held out his hand. Hibird landed on it for a brief second before chirping and springing from hand to his head. The bird soon settled in his hair, singing it’s little song and Xanxus groaned at it. “Every time you damn thing,” he muttered as he walked in. “My hair is not your nest.”

Hibird ignored him.

Hibari, on the other hand, did not. He looked up from his book, a half smile tilting up the corner of his mouth. “Xanxus,” he said in greeting.

“Kyoya,” Xanxus replied. He crossed the room, slower than his typical long legged gait. For some reason, his heart beat heavily in his chest.

There was no cause to it. He saw Hibari often enough. He’d seen him bloody from battle, half dressed from a shower, nude in his own damn bed- but this one was a different Hibari. He sat at a table, relaxed, wearing traditional clothing and looking as utterly natural in it as he had ever looked on a battlefield of blood. His dark eyes flicked away from Xanxus for a moment to the door beyond him, “Kusakabe, have someone bring sake for my guest. That is all.”

There was a murmur of agreement behind Xanxus, which he ignored in favor of taking a seat on the cushion Hibari gestured to. “Your bird needs a lesson in manners,” he complained as he leaned an elbow on the table.

“Your hair resembles a nest,” Hibari countered, “Why shouldn’t he settle in it?” He placed his book on the table, not closing it, but diverting his attention from it to Xanxus.

“Because it is my hair,” Xanxus said, “And not an actual nest.”

“Mm,” Hibari replied.

Xanxus huffed. He shifted uneasily, not quite able to settle his jumping heart rate or find a comfortable spot. Hibari watched him, silently, his dark eyes intent, and offered no assistance.

After a few minutes, there was a shuffling in the hall and the door opened again for a member of the kitchen staff. They bowed, brought over sake and two dishes to drink from and then excused themselves quietly. Hibari took the bottle in hand and poured for them both.

To Xanxus’s great relief, he didn’t ask why Xanxus was there.

_Because I missed you. Because I wanted to see where you live. Because I needed more from you than your spontaneous visits._ These were things he could think, but not bring himself to say. Instead, he lifted the sake up and sipped it. After a few drinks, he murmured, “Good sake.”

Hibari turned his head away but Xanxus saw the curve of his smile anyway. “I don’t drink it too often,” he said as he took his own sip. “But when I do this is the kind I prefer.”

Xanxus hid his own smile against the rim of his cup.

He refilled his cup himself, as Hibari’s attention drifted to his book. While one man read, studying the characters on the page, the other drank, studying silent, minutely shifting expressions on his face. True to his word, Hibari drank more from his tea that had been with him from the start than from his sake. Xanxus didn’t mind. He had always been more of a lone drunk than one who did it for social reasons.

The sake left him warm and loosened his coiled nerves. It didn’t stop his heart from jumping irregularly, though. The more he drank, however, the less Xanxus minded that. After all, when it was the shift of Hibari’s breathing chest, the way his dark hair lay against his pale throat, the tiny twitches of his lips as something he read or thought alternatively pleased or bothered him that made Xanxus’s pulse race, there wasn’t much he could do to stop it besides look away from Hibari.

And he hadn’t traveled halfway across the world to go to his lover’s house, sit at his table, drink his sake and then _ignore_ him. He might as well shoot himself in the foot if that was his intention.

No. He enjoyed watching Hibari. It was easier to admit that in his mind, in his blood, than it was to form the words with lips and tongue and teeth, but he had a feeling that Hibari already knew that. For all their silences and for all the distance and for all the time that separated them, Hibari knew an awful lot about Xanxus.

“Damn spy network,” he muttered. “I live in _Italy._ You shouldn’t know that much.”

Slowly, Hibari lifted his eyes from his book, as though he were taking the extra moments to memorize his place so he wouldn’t lose it. He fixed Xanxus with that stare instead, lifting one eyebrow. After a heartbeat of silence -loud and thundering in Xanxus’s veins, in his carotid, he could feel it pulsing in his throat like his damn heart was stuck there- Hibari said softly, “In regards to you, I don’t think I could ever know too much.”

Xanxus blinked. He blinked again. And then for a third time, harsh and hard and willing himself to dismiss any illusion before him.

But it was only Hibari, no illusion. (He knew that. Hibari despised illusions.) Only Hibari with a slight smile as he lifted his cup -sake this time- to his mouth and sipped from it, eyes dark over the rim, dark and glittering like cut obsidian in the sunlight.

Xanxus sucked in a breath that sounded too loud for the quiet room and, for the first time, glanced away. Not far, though, not completely off of Hibari, just away from his eyes. And just for a moment. Just long enough to see Hibari’s free hand on the table, fingers curling in and then being flattened against the wood, a sure way to prevent them from betraying any emotion.

He was smirking when he looked back up and met Hibari’s eyes. His voice was rough when he spoke, but he could blame that on the alcohol, even if they both knew it hadn't been enough to do that to him. “I feel the same.”

Hibari swallowed. Xanxus watched that, too, sipping the last of his sake. He reached for the bottle but found it empty. With a soft “tsk” he set it back down, shaking his head.

“My hospitality doesn’t run out when my liquor does,” Hibari said, closing his book and fully setting it aside. “Come with me. I have something to show you.” He stood, turning towards the door. Xanxus rose to his feet, mostly steady, and trailed after him. Hibird began to sing again as he walked.

In the hallway, Hibari turned back for a moment and looked up to the bird, “Off you go,” he said and obediently the bird chirped and fluttered off. It’s song faded as it disappeared into the house.

Xanxus arched an eyebrow, “I know you could have done that the _entire_ time he was there.”

Hibari gave a slight smile, turning away again. “I know you know that,” he said wryly.

He couldn’t even blame a secret spy network on that one. Damn.

Grumbling under his breath, Xanxus followed Hibari deeper into his house. Well. Calling it a house was kind of an understatement. It was definitely a manor. They passed a room where there were murmured voices like those of a meeting of men and another room with the sound of sparring behind the doors. Room after room, Hibari didn’t stop, didn’t deviate, only continued his winding path to a place somewhere deep in the manor.

When he stopped, he slid open the door and Xanxus felt a bit like hitting himself in the forehead.

Of course. A bedroom.

Hibari walked in and Xanxus realized that _a_ bedroom was the wrong description. This was _Hibari’s_ bedroom.

With that in mind, he slid the door closed and looked around curiously. There was a little perch in the corner, for Hibird, obviously, and shut closet doors that presumably held his clothing. The floor length mirror was a surprise, as well as the fact that it suit not only Hibari’s height but Xanxus’s as well.

The furniture that dominated the room, however, was the king sized bed. The bedding on it was the same severe dark blue color that Hibari favored in his day to day clothing along with accents of silver. There were a few pillows, none of them obviously decorative, and the whole thing looked incredibly comfortable.

It had been a long flight to Japan, after all, and a surprisingly long drive to Hibari’s manor. That, on top of the hour or two he spent drinking in Hibari’s company, put Xanxus definitely in the mood to try out that bed.

The sound of cloth sliding against cloth, however, distracted him from the thought of sleep. He jerked his head around to see Hibari standing with his back to him. Again, the fact that he’d seen Hibari stripping down his clothing plenty of times before seemed to mean nothing this time. He stood, frozen, watching as Hibari undressed with steady patience that was incredibly unlike him.

Then again, they were in his home, his bedroom, his sanctuary. This wasn’t the home of the Varia, where half the walls were in a near constant state of being rebuilt and the building was the size it was to give everyone plenty of space to avoid the others if they wanted or needed to.

This was a quieter place. Not exactly peaceful, not with the way Xanxus’s heart ran races in his chest or with the way Hibari’s dark eyes held a level of intensity he seemed to reserve for the most interesting of fights. Just quiet. Reflective, almost.

A sanctuary. That really was the right word for this place.

Bringing his thoughts away from their wandering and back to Hibari, Xanxus blinked and admired, not for the first time and not for the last time, the body of his lover. Hibari bore his own scars, silver against his pale skin, but they held little fascination for Xanxus. Scars were, alternatively, burdens of the past or things to be ignored.

Xanxus ignored all the scars scattered across their bodies at that moment because Hibari was walking towards him and, wearing nothing, it was as easy as breathing to see the ripple of muscle under skin just from the movement of his body. His breath caught at the tenderness of Hibari’s touch when cool fingers cup his jaw. “What are you doing?” He asked Xanxus, brows lifted in the most mild expression of disappointment that has ever cut Xanxus to the quick. “Strip.”

The flush that colored Xanxus’s cheeks burned his skin. He turned his head enough to bite at Hibari’s finger but it was without intent to harm. He worried skin and the joint beneath with his teeth even as his own fingers reached up and tugged free the tie from his throat.

Hibari does nothing to help, just holds his face in his hands and waits. This, oddly enough, makes Xanxus’s hands slow down. This, he’ll never admit, makes Xanxus’s hands shake. He can dress and undress in the dark, but pinned under Hibari’s gaze, his hands fumble over buttons and slip on his belt. He stumbles a little, somehow, even though he’s _standing,_ when he toes off his socks but Hibari doesn’t laugh at him, doesn’t look anything other than intense and patient and, if Xanxus is reading his expression right, a deeper level of desire than he’s seen in anyone’s face in a long, long time.

He thinks he’s guessed right about that desire when Hibari goes on tiptoe and pulls down with his hands to kiss Xanxus. It’s slow. Slow and warm and unlike many of their other kisses that taste like blood or stone dust or ozone or ash or embers or whatever the hell else they get into the air when they fight or when others fight and they steal kisses from each other like they’re priceless gemstones.

He’s led by the fingers on his jaw and the mouth against his towards the bed. For a moment the thought _a horse drawn to water_ flickers across his thoughts but it’s lost just as easily as it appears when Hibari pulls back from the kiss and smiles at him. _Smiles._ With his entire mouth. And his eyes.

His muscles clench at the sight, from his stomach to his lungs to his heart, from his legs to his abs to his arms, because he can count on one hand the number of times he’s ever, _ever_ seen Hibari smile. “Kyoya,” he breathes out the name without thinking, reaching for Hibari.

Hibari slips from his grasp, though, which would, ordinarily, inspire a sort of mindless grasping urge from Xanxus to get his hands full of that lithe body but this time only gives him an ache and spurs a helpless sound from the back of his throat. Hibari’s smile holds as he climbs backwards onto his own bed, all pale skin on blue cloth, and Xanxus can do nothing but follow him.

There’s something _more_ this time. Xanxus can feel it settling around them, on their skin and in their touches. He kisses Hibari again, catching a handful of dark hair at the back of Hibari’s neck and holding him still long enough to find his thoughts and lose them again.

Hibari’s hands grow warm as he trails fingertips down from jaw to neck to shoulders to chest. They move with the assurance of familiarity and the slowness that this place is steeped in. Xanxus shudders under his touch, doing all he can to keep his mind focused on kissing those lips still curved up in a smile.

As Hibari draws back, Xanxus moves forward until he’s kneeling over the other man, one forearm bracing him on the mattress and the other hand still tangled in black hair. When he breaks from the kiss it is to whisper, “Kyoya,” again, this time with his mouth at Hibari’s throat.

He’s bitten this skin time and time again, enough to bruise it but never break it. In return, his own neck and shoulders have been marred by Hibari’s teeth. This time, however, is no time for biting. He mouths down smooth skin from the hard line of Hibari’s jaw, over the soft, thrumming pulse point and down the length to his collarbone.

It’s a tenderness he’s never shown Hibari in bed before, though if he were asked _why not_ , in this moment, he would be unable to give any justifiable reason. Hibari shivers as Xanxus’s mouth leaves behind warmth from his kisses. His fingers press against Xanxus’s ribs, clutching him as Xanxus shifts his head from one side to the other.

He pauses, lifting his head slightly, when he hears a murmur of something. Hibari turns his head, meets his gaze and seems to understand Xanxus’s silent _What was that?_

“‘M cold,” Hibari murmured. He lifted a leg, sliding his knee along Xanxus’s flank. “Fix it.”

“Tch,” Xanxus muttered, “I’ll fix _something.”_ He drew back, which made Hibari grumble audibly but that quickly faded under the look Xanxus pinned him with.

Kneeling up, he ran a hand down Hibari’s chest and rested his palm on the man’s stomach. “Stay,” he commanded. He gave a little pat of his hand and a hard stare down to his lover.

Hibari arched a brow, huffed, but gave a slight nod. He lifted his chin, stretching his arms up above his head with a deep breath and a deeper sigh. Xanxus kept one eye on Hibari settling into the sheets while he slid on his knees across the bed and to the small nightstand beside it. He could trust that Hibari to be practical. A mirror tall enough for them both. A bed big enough for two. A nightstand beside the bed? That would be where the lube and condoms would be.

Of course, he was right.

He carried bottle and package in one hand and crawled back across to the middle of the bed. Hibari blinked up at him slowly like a drowsy cat. “Xanxus,” he murmured, reaching up a lazy hand.

Xanxus cocked his head to the side and let Hibari’s palm cup his cheek. He held still, for a moment, before turning and kissing the calloused skin. “...Yes?” The word stuck in his throat.

Hibari’s hand slid up. His fingers tangled in Xanxus’s hair, just behind his ear. He curled his hand in it, pulling gently, guiding him down. “You’re here,” he whispered. “Finally.”

Xanxus snorted and kissed the inside of Hibari’s wrist. “Where else would I be?” He said against a mouthful of smooth skin. He littered kisses down Hibari’s arm and to his shoulder. As he moved closer, he stretched out above Hibari, covering his body easily.

This, too, was unlike their times before. There were no hard grips or bent knees to keep Hibari pinned to his back, to keep Hibari’s limbs from striking out and shifting their places, upsetting the balance of their positions. There was only the familiar lines and angles of Hibari’s hips and sides and legs, shifting slightly so they were both comfortable. There was only a bent knee on the outside of his leg, keeping him neatly between Hibari’s legs but still maintaining as much contact as possible.

Hibari was cold on the surface. Not just with his expression or his voice, but his skin as well. He stole Xanxus’s warmth through hands tracing muscle tone across his back and legs bending and sliding against Xanxus’s own. Even his heels were cold, where they hooked across the back of a leg and sent a shiver up Xanxus’s spine.

“Finally,” Hibari repeated with a sigh and a slow blink that ended with his eyes closing. A half smile hovered around the corner of his lips. Xanxus kissed his chin so that he wouldn’t accidentally change that expression.

_Did you wait long?_ The words sit right on the tip of Xanxus’s tongue, but there they stay to die. Instead of speaking, his mouth opens in a groan because suddenly there is so much heat under his skin he must helplessly close his eyes. Heat and light and whatever it was that settled on them must have soaked into their skins, because Xanxus pants against Hibari’s throat, overwhelmed by the sensation.

He can tell he’s not alone in the feeling because Hibari’s nails bite into his scalp and his back arches underneath Xanxus, pressing their bodies together harder. There’s a sound like a whimper caught in the back of a throat but Xanxus doesn’t know if it comes from his throat or from Hibari’s. What he does know is that when he manages to open his eyes and look at his lover he can see where this overwhelming heat comes from.

All it takes is that look for him to understand what the fuck just happened. Orange flame dances along his skin, curling across the surface of it like wisps of snow driven by sharp winds across asphalt roads. He pulls back enough that he can see his hand, broad and scarred and darker in color than Hibari’s skin, run up Hibari's chest and stop at his throat.

Where he touches Hibari, purple flame coils up to the surface of pale skin as if seeking contact with Xanxus. He looks down and sees purple against orange wherever their bodies are touching, skin to skin, and Xanxus _knows_ what has just happened.

Hibari might be the first cloud he’s harmonized with, but he isn’t the first person _Xanxus_ has harmonized with as a sky.

Full of wonder, and more than a little shock, Xanxus opens his mouth and the words tumble out, “We’re harmonizing,” he says first and then almost immediately afterwards, adds, “I thought you _had_ a sky already. The brat.”

Hibari blinks those dark eyes up at him, slow still, sleepy still, but Xanxus knows his mind isn’t gone, not yet. He recognizes the look now. They’re _harmonizing._ If it’s anything like he’s heard described, Hibari is finally coming home to a place he didn’t know he was missing but now would _need._

Xanxus, being a sky, has never harmonized with one, but he has with most of his guardians and he knows the drowsy _I’m home, I’m content, this is mine, this is my place,_ feeling will last for several hours, at least. He was a powerful sky and had powerful guardians. Harmony found between two with the strength he and Hibari had only meant a longer time under its effects.

And with a cloud’s ability to multiply…

Hibari opened his mouth in a soft gasp, a moan, and a curl of purple flame escaped his lips like misty breath on a winter day. “I work for him,” is the whispered reply, “Doesn’t mean I belong to him.”

Xanxus leans in, feeling his heart in his throat again except hotter, like it’s a lit coal he’s swallowed. His breath stirs against Hibari’s ear and neck as he whispers back, “Clouds need a sky. I’ll be the sky you need.”

His hand slides down, seeking every inch of Hibari he can reach to make purple rise to his touch. Hibari huffs and turns his head enough to bite his earlobe once and then mutter, “Acceptable.”

Stifling laughter, hiding it really, with eager kisses, Xanxus begins to put real effort into this. His hands work with practiced ease, fingers becoming slick and seeking after Hibari’s entrance on their own. He busies his thoughts with his mouth, with the taste of Hibari’s skin, with the way he can make purple blossom under his lips without dragging his teeth across skin to bruise it.

Hibari clings to him, more docile than he’s ever been, more vocal than Xanxus has ever had the pleasure to hear. It’s the harmony that’s doing it to him, Xanxus knows that, but a part of him tells him that it can be like this again, later, even without the flames attempting to break out of their skin. They don’t have to go back to only fucking with blood under their nails, cuts on their skin and ragged gashes through their clothes. They can have _this_ too. This fucking that’s more like lovemaking and makes them vulnerable, exposed, to each other in the privacy of a shared, protected place.

He eventually has to lift his head to get a better angle, has to kneel up because his fingers are deft. Hibari is pliant and more open than Xanxus has ever seen him and that is shown in his easily parting legs and his panting lungs. His cheeks are flushed pink and the color crawls down his throat to his chest. Xanxus soaks up the image as he lines up his hips.

_This is my cloud._ He grins at the thought, just the hint of gloating that he’ll be crowing about later. _Hibari Kyoya is_ **_my_ ** _cloud._

He doesn’t even care if there will be trouble. He doesn’t give a shit if he’ll have to talk to the trash kid about this situation. He doesn’t give a fuck that this complicates things even beyond their acquaintance and subsequent relationship ever could.

When he enters with a steady push of his hips, Xanxus groans at both the physical heat of Hibari’s body and that _other_ heat that comes from his skin flushing with orange flames.

He’s harmonized before, sure, but never while fucking. He almost loses his grip on Hibari’s hips as he feels the shiver of his body cascade into Hibari and light him with flames under the skin. It’s beautiful. _He’s_ beautiful. Xanxus has it in his mind to tell him so, as soon as he can breathe again, but the thoughts run away from him as Hibari’s legs wrap around him at the same time as his muscles clench.

Xanxus grins for another reason now -even drugged out on harmonizing flames, Hibari can still be impatient- and begins to thrust. He bends himself to the task, one hand on Hibari’s hip to hold him in place, the other a support beam as he grips the sheets, leaning his weight into the movement of his hips. He’s good at this. Of course he is, with the years of practice and a speckled history of lovers of all types.

None of them are Hibari, though. None of them are his cloud. None of them will ever grace his bed again, so long as he can have Hibari in it instead.

Because it’s Hibari who arches beneath him now, skin shining with sweat, flushed with a blush halfway down his chest and with the curl of vivid purple echoing the strain of his muscles. It’s Hibari who reaches for his hair with one hand, pulling, demanding a kiss even though it brings them too close together for him to fuck properly. It’s Hibari who whispers his name against his lips, too soft to be anything but a prayer.

It’s Hibari who makes his skin burn. It’s Hibari who has stolen the air from his lungs. It’s Hibari who has drawn out the words, “Fuck, _fuck,_ you’re so _beautiful,”_ from his lips, willingly thought but grudgingly spoken.

It’s Hibari who looks up at him with those dark eyes hazy from harmony, from fucking, from the sheer heat of the moment, and who smiles the smile that Xanxus has seen twice now in one day but before that never twice in _six_ _months,_ and that means more than whispered names or curling flames. Hibari is _his_ and he is _Hibari’s_ and Xanxus will never give him up, not without a fight, not without dying first.

He’s never had a cloud, but he knows they lay claim to all that their sky holds. He knows they can count land and people as their territory and Xanxus has never been so willing to belong to someone else in his whole life.

Bending over, trailing kisses on every inch of skin he can reach, Xanxus gives himself over to this belonging to another. In this moment, at least, he surrenders without guilt for those who depend on him, without any sting to his pride. Hibari is his cloud. Those whom Xanxus protects and provides for will be covered by Hibari as well. The pride he had before will only be stronger, now with a full set of guardians.

He attempts to show his gratitude with his hands, his lips, his thrusting hips, and knows Hibari understands. They have always communicated best with their bodies rather than their words. And now, harmonized, Xanxus thinks that connection will only become stronger.

Hibari makes those soft gasping noises that Xanxus is intimately familiar with, like he can’t quite catch a full breath. Xanxus lets his eyes close and his body ride out the burning heat that looped around them, between them, like corded ropes soaked in kerosene and set ablaze. Fingers slip over sweat slick skin. A breath comes out sharp, shaped around a curse from Xanxus’s lips, shaped around a wordless exclamation from Hibari’s.

It’s impossible to say who comes first. The flames are deafening. The heat is blinding. It echoes from Xanxus. It’s amplified by Hibari. He comes down off of it panting and sprawled on top of Hibari. A tremor in his limbs prevents him from rolling away or even rising.

For once, though, Hibari seems content to simply sling an arm around his shoulders and tuck Xanxus closer to his neck. He huffs out a soft laugh against skin when he feels Hibari curling limbs around him like an extremely clingy cat. Xanxus moves a hand enough so he can see his fingertip drawing lazy circles on Hibari’s shoulder. The flicker of flame has faded down to an ember glowing just under the skin and it trails after his slow touch.

While others might question their good fortune- Xanxus knew Hibari to be more than capable as a cloud guardian, to be able to work with a sky he hadn’t harmonized with- he is far more inclined to bask in the smug success of achieving what the brat could not. Xanxus smiled, more than pleased, and closed his eyes with a sigh. “Warm enough?” He asked softly.

“Mm,” Hibari ran his fingers through Xanxus’s hair, down the back of his neck and along his spine between his shoulderblades. They followed the curve of spine, of muscle, of bone, before running back up to linger in Xanxus’s hair again. “It’s adequate.”

“Good,” Xanxus muttered. Hibari’s heartbeat was as regular as his breath. Xanxus began to drift, but before he fell asleep, he heard Hibari murmur something.

“You’ll stay a while,” no hint of a question, though it wasn’t as firm as a command.

Xanxus snorted. “Of course.” _Where else would I go?_ He doesn’t ask.

Hibari’s arms tighten around him for a moment and then he relaxes. “Mm,” is the reply. “Then sleep.”

Xanxus rolled his eyes, even if they were already closed. He fell asleep to the feeling of cool fingers curling in the hair at the nape of his neck and the steady _ba-dump_ of Hibari’s heart. He fell asleep content and smiling.

* * *

The couch in Boss Tsuna’s Italy office was really comfortable.

It was definitely in the top five places that Lambo loved to hang out when he had a moment, also known as when he was avoiding his tutors. Boss had a little table in the corner of the room that made those fancy coffees that Gokudera needed to keep calm and Boss needed to survive in general. He also had a lower desk drawer full of candies that Lambo (and some of the others, like Chrome) got to pick from on occasion.

The best part about the couch, other than the big cushions and the soft pillows, was that it was definitely long enough for Lambo to lay out on, head to toe, without his feet dangling over the edge. Though, he had to admit, hooking his knees over the arm of the couch was always entertaining if only to see Gokudera’s eyebrow twitch from the “misuse of the Tenth’s furniture” he muttered about from time to time.

Lambo had one leg hanging off the couch, his 3DS held above his head while he checked on his little villagers, when The Cloud Event happened. Boss sat at his desk, sighing as he lazily worked on his paperwork. Gokudera was perched like a particularly twitchy bird in his own chair, glancing up from time to time to make sure Boss was signing something right.

There was a knock at the door and then it was immediately pushed open. Lambo glanced over to see Yamamoto walking in, grinning, with his phone held a foot away from his ear.

“Boss?” Yamamoto said as he walked up to the desk.

Lambo turned the volume down on his game. Like hell was he going to let cheerful music ruin whatever news it was that Yamamoto brought with a grin that sheepish and a screeching harpy on the phone.

“Yes…?” Boss set down his pen. He glanced warily at the phone. “Is… that for me?”

“Nah,” Yamamoto waved a hand, “It’s Squalo.”

Gokudera twitched. He frowned, “What does _he_ want?”

“Well, a couple of things,” Yamamoto said. He held up his free hand, ticking off the things as he said them. “First of all he’d like it if I came to visit more often, in general, especially if I’m already in Italy. And secondly he’d also probably like it if we had more for the Varia to do, I think was part of last week’s rant, because otherwise they run off and uh, get themselves missing? Because, thirdly, he went to check on Xanxus earlier? Like, yesterday or something, and found he was missing. Of course, being second in command, he checked his boss’s usual hangout spots, you know?”

Boss nodded, frowning slightly. Lambo lowered his 3DS. That was a thoughtful frown. Boss might say he wasn’t very smart but Lambo knew dumb people and whatever Boss lacked in ‘proper’ education, he made up for in spades with his Intuition.

“Get to the point,” Gokudera snapped. “Where did he find Xanxus?”

“The point, right,” Yamamoto flashed a bright smile. “So Squalo says the Varia financial account puts Xanxus in Japan. Specifically Namimori. As in he flew in and got a taxi to some place that _wasn’t_ their usual hotel, or any hotel, because the last charge is the taxi cab service and then it goes cold.” He stopped. The shouting on his phone had finally died down and he put it to his ear again. “Hello? Oh! Prince!”

Lambo, on the other hand, turned his attention to Gokudera, who looked like a storm had settled on his face, and to Boss, who had gone rather pale.

“That’s a bit…odd.” Gokudera said slowly, tapping the end of his pen to his chin, “Xanxus usually can tolerate being in Italy at the same time as you, Tenth, so long as you two don’t actually cross paths. Why would he go to Japan so suddenly?”

Quietly, Boss whispered, “Only Hibari is in Japan.”

Gokudera nodded. “Exactly. Only Hibari is in Japan. Sure, we’ve all heard how Hibari visits the Varia, but we’ve also heard how much of the place he destroys in their fights every time he’s there.”

“And now Xanxus is in Namimori,” Boss said, his voice still soft. His eyes were a little distant, focused on the wall above Yamamoto’s head.

Gokudera’s pen stopped mid-tap. His eyes rounded out enormously. Lambo stifled a snort at the horrified expression. “He couldn’t possibly… Xanxus wouldn’t dare… Hibari would kill someone for Namimori. Hibari _has_ killed people for Namimori. Hibari would _kill Xanxus_ for Namimori’s protection!”

Yamamoto glanced over to them. “Hibari’s killing Xanxus?” There was a pause and then he jerked his phone away from his ear with a wince again. “Shit. The Prince told Squalo that.”

Boss opened his mouth. Then he shut it. He shook his head slowly and then faster. He stopped the shaking by putting his palm to his forehead. “It couldn’t… That can’t be it. That makes no sense,” he whispered to himself. Lambo only heard it because Gokudera was hyperventilating before he started freaking out and Yamamoto was quietly listening to the shouting on the phone.

“But why else would he go?” Boss whispered, probably to himself, “Why else would he visit?”

“Who?” Lambo asked, because they were talking about two men, technically, and pronouns could make rumor much more difficult to get right.

“Hibari,” Boss said absently. “Why else would he visit if not to-” Abruptly, he snapped his mouth shut. He pressed his lips together in a tight line, looking fairly grim as he actually looked at Lambo instead of at the wall. “It’s nothing. Nothing. Don’t even think about it.” He waved his finger at Lambo. “You’re too young to even consider worrying about it yet.”

Lambo blinked at the very light scolding. He looked to Yamamoto, who had a brow quirked in confusion and shrugged back at him.

Gokudera, on the other hand, had finally gotten through his breathing techniques, though he didn’t look any more calm. “Tenth? What do we do? What should we do? We can’t let Hibari kill Xanxus. Do you know what would happen then?”

Boss blinked, “Uh. No?”

Gokudera, getting up from his seat, stepped up to the desk and laid both hands on it. He leaned forward, utterly serious, and said, “The one who kills the leader of the Varia _becomes_ the leader to the Varia. Do you want _Hibari_ to lead the _Varia?”_

Yamamoto, with a half hidden smile, spoke loud enough to carry into his phone conversation. “You mean if Hibari kills Xanxus, he becomes Squalo’s boss?”

There was silence for a moment, as that sank in. Lambo lay there, silent, and absolutely glad that he’d skipped his tutoring lesson to play video games in Boss’s office that day.

“We have to stop him,” Gokudera said. “Tenth, please. We have to send someone to stop them from fighting and killing each other or trying to and dying or even just destroying _one_ building in Namimori.” He drew back, putting his hands in his hair, “Why did he go there? Why!? Does Xanxus have a death wish? Does he _want_ to give Hibari the Varia?”

Boss was shaking his head again, but he did ask, “Is Squalo going to go after Xanxus?”

Yamamoto related the question over the phone, waited a moment and then gave a grin. “Yup. He just panicked and called me first, to give us a heads up but since we’re not there, it was kind of useless. And, well, I guess it’s too late to call Hibari and give him a heads up?”

Boss laughed weakly. Lambo felt a little bad then, seeing how pale he was, but Gokudera’s theatrical groan made him bite his lip to keep from grinning.

“Takeshi, go with Squalo to Namimori,” Boss said, “Call Haru on your way there so she can pick you up and take you to Hibari. Follow her lead on this one, will you? She… she’ll know how to handle Hibari best in this case.”

“Sure thing. How long do you want me to stay?”

Boss took in a breath and then let it out slowly. “A few days. Not long. No… I don’t think you’ll need to be there for very long at all. Go see them, make sure no one dies, take a day or two to calm Squalo down and then come back when you’re ready to. We can… We can handle things here for a while.”

“Gotcha,” Yamamoto said with a grin. “Get some rest, Boss, you look pale! Don’t worry. Everything will turn out fine!” He said as a goodbye, turning his attention back to his phone as he headed to the door.

Once he was gone, Gokudera slumped in his chair and moaned, “I don’t know what’s worse… That Hibari is going to kill Xanxus or that Xanxus went there and got himself killed.”

Boss rubbed at the bridge of his nose. He looked like a headache was forming behind his eyes, which was a familiar enough motion to Lambo. He got that way himself when he had to deal with some of the science lectures from his tutors. The teen slipped off the couch and wandered over to Boss’s desk. He crouched down and fiddled with the lowest drawer, reaching in, he pulled out a pair of chocolate truffles.

Sitting on the floor beside Boss, he unwrapped one and offered it up. Boss gave him a grateful little smile and accepted the chocolate. Lambo beamed up at him and unwrapped his own piece.

Even with the chocolate melting on his tongue, Lambo nearly choked when he heard Boss turn to address Gokudera, saying, “It’s time we start looking for a new cloud guardian, Gokudera.”

By the sound of it, Gokudera didn’t need any chocolate at all to start choking.

* * *

Xanxus woke when a hand pushed at his shoulder. His very comfortable pillow slipped out of his arms and off of the bed, waking him fully when he lay back onto blankets, not skin.

“Kyoya…?” Xanxus pushed himself up on an elbow, blinking into the dimly lit room. There was no reply, of course, just the sound of a door sliding open.

Grumpily, Xanxus dragged Hibari’s pillow over and buried his face in it. It smelled like Hibari’s skin and the shampoo he used. Sure, it was probably disgustingly sappy for him to be wallowing in his lover’s enormous bed, wrapped in blankets warmed by their two bodies and breathing in the scent of a man who he had been using as a pillow himself not less than a minute ago, but Xanxus gave no fucks about it. He was alone. No one could see him grinning like an idiot and he still had the excuse of pure smugness that _he had harmonized with Hibari Kyoya._

Of course, he wasn’t alone forever, as there were soft footsteps and a door opening again. Hibari turned on a lamp near the bedside, placing something on the table with a little _thunk_ and climbed back into bed. Xanxus rolled over onto his back, turning that smug grin up to _his_ cloud guardian.

Hibari adjusted the blankets just so and lay on his back next to Xanxus. His dark hair fell across the pillow as he turned his head to look at Xanxus.

Stretching his back, Xanxus let out a pleased groan and then rolled back to pillow his cheek on Hibari’s shoulder. “This is a giant fucking bed,” he mumbled against pale skin. He was over six feet tall and even he felt swallowed up in the blankets spread across the mattress.

“It is,” Hibari replied, his voice cool even though Xanxus could hear his heart beating faster than normal. He ran a hand over Xanxus’s shoulder, down his arm and stopped when they were, well, holding hands. Xanxus turned his so he could tuck his fingers between Hibari’s.

This was another horrendously romantic thing that Xanxus would have never done with any other partner in bed. He did it now only because Hibari started it and if Hibari was seeking more physical contact then Xanxus was more than willing to give.

Hibari held their hands up, turning them slowly, consideringly. Xanxus lay there in contentment, watching Hibari as his thoughts formed a little wrinkle between his brows and a slight downturn to his lips. After a minute or two of this, just as Xanxus is about to drift off to sleep again, Hibari speaks. “This isn’t enough.”

“Hn?” Xanxus blinks the sleep from his eyes. “What isn’t?”

He doesn’t want to think of the idea of sharing Hibari- god that would be _impossible-_ but now he’s thinking about it and-

Hibari’s fingers dig into the back of his hand. The frown deepens. Xanxus forces his spine to relax, his arms to loosen back up. He huffs a harsh breath out. “Explain.”

With that frown still in place, Hibari complies, “We harmonized. I am now your cloud guardian and you are my sky. But it is _not enough.”_ He turns their hands, bending Xanxus’s arm to expose the wrist. “That is not all we are. That is not even the basis of what we are. It is an addition to our relationship. A byproduct of what we became together.”

Slightly confused, Xanxus lays there in silence. Despite the two years together, his conversations with Hibari usually involve a lot more breaks for violence and taunting than… whatever this is. He has to pick his way through the Hibari-logic slowly, especially since he’d still rather be asleep.

Xanxus has a new appreciation for Kusakabe and the way he’s handled Hibari for over a decade, at least. Hibari’s brain is full of pitfalls for anyone but himself.

He frowns, looking at Hibari, then looking at their hands -his left hand, Hibari’s right- and frowns some more. There’s no way that he could mean… But at the same time…

The bed, the room, the house. Hibari drank _sake_ with him just yesterday (or earlier, Xanxus has no idea what time it is anymore) and he hates the stuff. Minor concessions might not mean much to others, but for Hibari to do something for someone else’s sake?

Well that was no minor thing.

When he thinks he’s got it, Xanxus isn’t quite sure if he should laugh or argue. Instead he grunts and says, “We are going to have one fucked up wedding.”

The frown fades from Hibari’s face and he blinks at Xanxus. There’s a brief moment where they look at each other, in silence, before Hibari’s eyes cut to the side and he says, “I don’t like rings.”

“Then no rings,” Xanxus says, “We’ll do something else.” He gives Hibari’s hand a little squeeze.

This draws his lover’s attention back to his wrist. This time, Xanxus sees the calculation in his dark eyes and the flexing muscle in his jaw.

He snorts and asks, “You want to bite me, don’t you?” It’s hardly a question worth asking. He’s seen that look on Hibari’s face before. It’s usually accompanied by a double handful of tonfas and torn clothing from a fight, but it’s still a look that he knows.

“You don’t deserve it,” Hibari says almost at once, “But I don’t like rings.”

The translation of logic here is much simpler. “You want to leave a mark,” he says, “But you don’t think I deserve the punishment of a bite.”

“Mm,” Hibari’s lips press into a thin line.

A smirk curls Xanxus’s lips, “Do you realize that I told no one I was coming here? Not a soul. Not even Squalo. I’m sure he’ll figure out I’m missing soon enough and then figure out where I went, too. I give him two days, three days max, before he tries to kick down your front door to find me.”

Hibari’s murderous glare would worry Xanxus more if it wasn’t for the fact that he had most of his bodyweight on top of his lover and if he wasn’t more than willing to go another round with a bit more violence this time. But instead of turning the glare into a quarrel for position or blood, Hibari’ bares his teeth and declares, “I’m going to bite you to death for bringing that shark to our home.”

Xanxus’s breath catches in his throat so hard he can’t even grunt in pain when Hibari sinks his teeth into the side of his wrist.

He stares, wide eyed, unable to blink, unable to breathe, unable to _think._ His heart beats so hard in his chest it _hurts_ and he’s sure his ribs will break under the pressure because-

_Our home._

_This place. This sanctuary. This is not just his. It’s ours._

Xanxus forces his eyes to close because cuddling bedding and hand holding with his lover is one thing, but tearing up at being offered a home-

For once _not_ being the one offering a home-

Well there are some things he’ll never admit to, not even to himself.

The bite draws blood. He knows it does because he can feel teeth break the skin. He opens his eyes in time to see Hibari catch the blood trickling down his wrist, his arm, with a cloth. There’s blood in the corner of his mouth, but Hibari, for all his talk of biting people to death, has little fascination with blood. He tends to the wound instead and Xanxus discovers that the thing he put on the bedside table was a first aid kit.

Of course it is.

He forces himself to take deep, even breaths, to keep calm, as Hibari cleans the wound, dresses it and then puts aside the box. He runs his fingers over the bandage edge and then glances up to look Xanxus in the eye.

He narrows his gaze and says again, “I don’t like rings.”

_I don’t want a mark,_ is what Xanxus hears. He doesn’t care. Hibari’s never been about quid pro quo anyway. Instead, he hooks his newly injured arm around Hibari’s neck and drags him over for a kiss. He knows that it’s the right move when Hibari almost instantly relaxes against him, kissing back with growing eagerness.

Between kisses, Xanxus gives him a grin and says, “How about feathers? Will you wear a feather in your hair for me?”

Hibari huffs, his breath warm against Xanxus’s cheek, and mutters, “Acceptable.”

Xanxus pulls him down into more kisses, ones with harder edges and more desperation. _I love you,_ he says with his mouth against Hibari’s, the words spoken not with breath but the urgency of his actions.

Hibari’s fingers twist in his hair just as his body twists under Xanxus’s to a more comfortable position. Xanxus knows his message is made clear when he pulls back to catch his breath and sees Hibari’s eyes glazed over, his lips swollen from kissing and a flush across his cheeks. His hand slips over Xanxus’s jaw and trails over his lips and Hibari murmurs, “Xanxus?”

Xanxus turns his head so he can kiss Hibari’s fingers, his palm, and whatever part of his wrist he can reach. “Yes, Kyoya?”

“I want a spring wedding.”

Xanxus laughs and bends down. “Whatever you want, Kyoya. I’ll give you whatever you want.” He hesitates just before he kisses him again, though, because of Hibari’s expression.

Hibari smiles up at him, his eyes bright, his cheeks pink, and Xanxus can read the meaning from his face as though the words were written in ink across his otherwise pale skin.

_I love you too._

* * *

The sky is grey with dawn when Takeshi follows Squalo out of the airplane and towards the hangar. The twelve hour flight has done nothing to soothe his temper and so his steps are as harsh as his tongue as he crosses the concrete to the small black car and the woman waiting there.

Takeshi, on the other hand, slept most of the trip and half listened to his lover’s seething worry. There was nothing he could do to calm it besides what he was already doing, so he followed with a smile prepared for Haru.

The woman smiled back at him, straightening up and stepping away from the car. She turned, plucked a pair of coffees off the top of the car, and held them out. “Superbi-san. Takeshi. How wonderful to see you both in Japan. Here. It’s still pretty early and I suspect you’ll be enjoying a rather long, busy day.”

With a harsh sound, Squalo took the cup, “Take me to my boss, woman. I don’t have any more time to waste talking while he gets himself into trouble.”

Haru frowned slightly, glancing to Takeshi for a moment as he smiled and took his coffee gratefully. When her hands were empty, she opened the car door, saying, “You’re not happy about his visit? We in the Committee think that it’s a fortuitous development. Hibari-san will do well with the Varia’s resources.”

Squalo crushes the coffee cup in his hand. _“Fortuitous_ _development?!”_ He shrieks and Takeshi sighs. Sighs only because, with that screaming, it will be completely unheard. “What has that fucking little monster done to the boss!?”

Haru’s face was perfectly blank as she asked, “You don’t… you don’t know? You… but aren’t you his second in command?” Her brown eyes flicked to Takeshi.

He smiled at her.

“When was the last time you spoke with Tsuna?”

“Yesterday,” he replied, “When Squalo called me to tell me Xanxus was missing in Namimori.” He looked to Squalo, who shook out hot coffee from his hand, hissing like a cat.

“I am _Xanxus’s_ second in command,” Squalo sneered. “No one else’s. Take me to Xanxus. Now.”

Haru blinked and then her blank expression blossomed into a smile so sneaky that Takeshi thought Mukuro would be proud.

That was a little worrying, but Haru ushered them quickly into the car. “Come on, come on! We haven’t got a _moment_ to waste.” Squalo sneered and grumbled and climbed into the back seat. “You too, Takeshi! Hurry. Hurry!” There was a manic sort of gleam in her eyes.

Very worrying, that look. But Takeshi took his seat and sipped his coffee. As Haru closed the door behind him, he thought he heard her whisper, “Oh Tetsuya, please, _please_ forgive me.”

Then the door was shut and she was walking to the driver’s seat. Takeshi took one look at Squalo, all but frothing at the mouth, and offered up his coffee. “Don’t worry,” he said, “It sounds like Xanxus is still alive.”

“Don’t be an idiot,” Squalo snapped, taking the cup. “What other reason is there for Hibari to join the Varia unless he takes over? Can you see him working for that brat _and_ the boss?”

“Mmm,” Takeshi shook his head. Working for Tsuna seemed to be as much as Hibari was willing to put up with, on the occasions that he was willing to put up with Tsuna at all.

Haru rolled down the screen dividing the front from the back. Glancing over her shoulder, she said, “It’ll be about an hour’s drive. You both ready?”

“Just get on with it!” Squalo shouted back.

Takeshi smiled.

With a bright smile, she said, “Excellent! Buckle up boys! This is going to be a _fantastic_ day.” She rolled up the divider before Squalo could berate her for her cheerfulness.

Takeshi sat back and cocked his head towards Squalo.

Of course, Squalo took that as an invitation to snarl about the coffee, the drive, Hibari’s bloodthirstiness and Xanxus’s stupidity. It took a little more than an hour to reach Hibari’s home, but at least it was an entertaining one.

* * *

Tetsuya had had busy days before. There had been days filled with eliminating rival gangs when Kyoya’s control of Namimori was still fresh. There had been days filled with the Vongola business, once that started up in earnest, that had felt more like weeks crammed into a few short hours. There had been the days where Kyoya had, finally, accepted that he would have to leave the school behind as an office and find a headquarters elsewhere.

A map of Namimori had engraved itself on the backs of his eyelids during that search. Kyoya was not easy to satisfy, especially when he was only half certain of what he wanted himself.

It was because of that difficulty to satisfy and because the affair with Xanxus seemed to be still so uncertain a thing that this day, the day that Tetsuya had walked into late the night before, crept up on him and surprised him.

If Kyoya hated surprises, Tetsuya loathed them. Well, certain surprises, anyway. He certainly didn’t mind when Haru sprang a nice meal on him or a good bottle of sake or a shoulder rub the likes of which was sung about by gods and angels. Surprises that involved just him, just Tetsuya, were acceptable.

Surprises like the one that was waiting for him when he’d finished up business for the day and had returned to the manor… No. Those were unacceptable. He should have seen it coming.

Had he realized just how significant it was to see Xanxus at the door of Kyoya’s Manor, Tetsuya would have rescheduled his meeting that evening to begin preparations.

(He should have realized. He should have. Xanxus had _never_ come to Japan alone before. He had _never_ showed up to visit Kyoya before. Tetsuya _should have realized_ but he hadn’t. And now he was paying for it.)

There were only eight months until April, when spring began in earnest. _Eight months to plan Kyoya’s wedding._

Tetsuya had not gotten more than a few hours of sleep that night.

There were phone calls to make, the first of many being one to Sawada. There were venus to scour, schedules to align, days to pick from. Everything lay in Tetsuya’s hands- Kyoya would ultimately give his final decision on significant parts of the wedding, but it was up to him to wheedle it down to either-or options.

And then there was _Xanxus._

Tetsuya knew plenty about the man, but what would he want for his _wedding?_

Madness. It was _madness._

It made Tetsuya consider asking if they’d like to elope instead. It wasn’t as though they needed a reception, right? A few phone calls and the people who needed to know would know. Everyone else could find out on their own.

It was tempting. Too tempting.

With a sigh, Tetsuya rose from his desk and went to the door to his office. He was going to need more tea to deal with the spread of venues on his desk. The only option to survive the madness was to throw himself headlong into it. At least he could get a headstart. Xanxus still occupied Kyoya’s focus, and, hopefully, he would continue to do so for the next few days.

Tetsuya had a lot of hope for that. The more he could accomplish on his own, the better off everyone would be.

Because the wedding was only half of the surprising news.

After all, if it had just been an engagement, Tetsuya would have had no need to call Sawada.

Just as he reached the hallway beyond his door, there was a cracking of wood and a shout.

“VOOOI!”

Tetsuya covered his face with a hand. “No.” He whispered. “No.”

Someone hurried up to him, “Captain!” The man exclaimed, “At the door, there’s-”

He stopped as Tetsuya lifted his other hand. “I heard. Hibari-san is expecting him. I will take care of it personally.” He lowered his hand from his face and gave the other man a somber look. “Do you have that list of florists ready yet?”

The man shook his head, “No sir. I’ll get right back on that.” He hurried away again.

Tetsuya smoothed a hand over his shirt and headed towards the shouting.

He was greeted by three familiar faces, two of which were a surprise and one of which was only faintly guilty looking. “Haru-san,” he greeted her cooly, frowning. She ducked her chin, a little more guilty now.

Superbi ceased his shouting upon his appearance. “You,” he snarled, “You’re the second to that monster. Where is the boss?”

Yamamoto stood behind them both, hands loose at his side, smiling like this was all entertaining.

“Last I saw, Xanxus-san was resting,” Tetsuya said truthfully. He had seen, over Kyoya’s shoulder, Xanxus’s bare back as he lay sprawled on the bed. “I believe that he is still resting.”

“Take me to him.” Superbi demanded, “Now.” He loomed, or attempted to loom, over Tetsuya.

Given that there was barely an inch height difference, it did nothing to Tetsuya. How could it, when all he had to do was close his eyes for longer than a second and imagine Kyoya’s intense gaze? Superbi might be a strong fighter, but Tetsuya had no fear of the man.

He slowly blinked and said instead, “Xanxus-san is resting.” He lifted his brow and added, “Hibari-san is resting as well. With him.”

“Tch,” Superbi snapped, “You expect me to believe they exhausted each other in a fight? I saw the outside of this place. It’s all in one piece.”

Tetsuya allowed his gaze to move past Superbi to look at the door beyond. True to the dramatic demands of the moment, a piece of frayed wood splintered off and hit the ground with a loud _thunk!_

Dryly, he said, “It was all in one piece. Yes.”

Superbi waved his hand dismissively, “I don’t have time for this. I’ll find him myself if you’re going to be a useless shit.” He stepped past Tetsuya, who turned to stop him. However, Superbi was as swift as he was strong, and instead of catching hold of his arm, Tetsuya only got his parting words, “This place isn’t any bigger than the Varia headquarters. I’ll find him easily.”

Tetsuya opened his mouth and then shut it again.

Repairmen, carpenters, construction time- these were old calculations to make in his head but rarely did he have to make them for the manor.

“Um,” Haru spoke up when Superbi had vanished. “Tetsu?”

He sighed and looked at her, “He’s not happy about the engagement, is he.”

The guilty look burned away under the sheer force of her glee. Her eyes sparkled like gemstones as she clapped her hands together and said, “He doesn’t even know about it!”

“What?” Tetsuya gasped. “But, how? I’ve informed everyone--”

“They were already on the plane when you sent out the message,” Haru glanced to Yamamoto.

The other man beamed. “Engagement?” He asked, “What engagement? A duel?”

“A _wedding,”_ Haru said in a hushed tone that told Tetsuya that Kyoya’s wedding would only be the first. He glanced to her and thought, _Summer. She’d look good in summer colors._ He blinked, tucked the thought away and caught Yamamoto’s reaction.

Curious blinking and then Yamamoto laughing and saying, “Wait. Who’s getting married?”

Haru, still gleeful, still giddy, said, “Hibari-san and Xanxus-san.”

Yamamoto laughed. “No way. Really?”

Tetsuya nodded. “Next spring.”

Yamamoto’s laughter faded away. After a moment, he said, “Are you sure?”

Knowing that there would be no point in going back and forth between a ‘yes I’m sure’ and ‘but are you _really_ sure?’ conversation, Tetsuya cut to the chase with a simple question.

“Yamamoto-san, how does your father feel about catering for wedding events?”

* * *

Xanxus could tell the moment when Hibari heard Squalo in his house.

Jetlag and an interior room had thrown off Xanxus’s internal time clock to the point that it could be dawn or noon or twilight outside and he’d have no idea.

What he did know was he had woken up, eaten food, drowsed in bed while Hibari sat next to him, reading, and had fallen back asleep again, only to reawaken when Hibari left the bed to speak to someone in the doorway.

He’d been awake enough to hear the words “spring wedding” and “harmonized” and “to Italy”, but more of Xanxus’s attention was focused on the side of Hibari’s head. A pair of his feathers, his most colorful ones in orange, blue and a splash of green, were clipped into Hibari’s hair.

When Hibari had come back to bed after that, Xanxus had indulged in kissing him until they were both too languid to untangle themselves and fell asleep.

But that was all before Squalo, so it belonged to the heavy silence of the manor and the strange softness that had developed between them in that dimly lit bedroom.

Hibari stirred in his arms, waking him up with a murmur of, “He’s in Namimori. I can feel it.”

“Mm,” Xanxus stretched out and yawned. He ran a hand down Hibari’s side, settling it low on his hips. “How close?” Xanxus asked the side of his neck.

After a moment of thought,  Hibari murmured, “Airport.”

“Then we have plenty of time,” Xanxus smiled.

Hibari’s fingers slid into Xanxus’s hair at that. “We do.”

Time enough to warm each other up with lazy touches and open mouthed kisses. Time enough to get wrapped up in and then kick of the blankets of the large bed. Time enough for Xanxus to leave a trail with his tongue down Hibari’s throat, across his collarbone, over his ribs, along his hips and, at last, to his goal of pale, soft skinned thighs.

Hibari writhed with one hand twisted in Xanxus’s hair and the other in the sheets. Xanxus left marks with his teeth on the inside of his thighs. He laughed when Hibari’s heel dug into his back. He groaned when Hibari hissed a vulgar demand of a better activity for his mouth.

He had just started to suck Hibari’s cock in earnest when he felt that lithe body under him go stiff. Knowing it was too soon for him to be ready to come, Xanxus tilted his head and cast a curious glance up at Hibari.

Hibari snarled soundlessly, staring upwards. His grip in Xanxus’s hair turned painful. Xanxus lifted his head more, to lessen the yank. “The fuck is it, Kyoya?”

“Shark.” Hibari growled, “The shark is here. Worthless herbivore has no sense.” He tugged again with his hand, but downwards.

Xanxus chuckled and slid Hibari’s cock back into his mouth. He wasn’t about to argue with Hibari about calling a shark an herbivore. Not when Hibari put his other leg over Xanxus’s shoulder and kicked with his heels, demanding and sharp. He hummed around the length in his mouth instead and slide one hand up to grope at Hibari’s backside.

Even with Hibari’s thighs muffling sound, Xanxus heard a distant shout growing louder. He bobbed his head down, sucking harder, almost angry, definitely amused that he was racing against Squalo’s arrival.

Hibari was saying things that he could barely understand. There was none of the sweetness from before, only half bitten words flung from his lips as his heels dug in and his nails scratched. Xanxus only sped up. This was the kind of fucking he was used to with Hibari. The kind that left him bruised and bleeding just as badly as a spar would.

He’d just instigated that staggering pant from Hibari when there was more shouting and the sound of cracking wood.

Hibari snarled out vicious words. Xanxus curled his tongue around the head of his cock and sucked. Hard.

As he swallowed, Xanxus heard the door open. He closed his eyes.

The universe, sometimes, had the absolute _best_ timing.

With a wet little pop, Xanxus pulled back from Hibari’s cock. He ducked his head down from beneath pale thighs with red teeth marks across them just in time for Hibari to roll off the bed. Languid though he must feel from the orgasm Xanxus just pulled from him, Hibari was a creature with a will of steel. He’d never let a little thing like relaxed muscles and spiking endorphins keep him from a well deserved beatdown.

And Squalo, standing in the doorway with wild eyes and a face twisted in his version of angry concern and worry, deserved nothing less.

Hibari, pants pulled on, tonfas appearing as if conjured from thin air, narrowed his eyes at Squalo. “Shark,” he said in a tone so icy Xanxus felt goosebumps rise on his skin. “I will bite you to death.”

“You little _fuck,”_ Squalo snapped. “Bring it on!”

Xanxus laughed, rolling over in the bed. He knew he shouldn’t have done it when he saw both Squalo and Hibari glare at him, but fuck it. He tucked his hands behind his head and said with a lewd grin to his lover, “Don’t break him too badly, hm? I just got a full guardian set. I don’t want to have to go looking for anyone else.”

Squalo faltered at the words, eyes going wide as he stared at Hibari. “Full guardian… You mean…?”

Hibari narrowed his eyes.

“And you!” Xanxus called to Squalo, “Don’t fucking cut his face, you hear me? One scarred up groom is enough for a wedding!”

“Wedding…?” Squalo gaped.

Hibari sniffed dismissively at Xanxus’s words, which he translated to, _as if the Shark could cut me at all, let alone my face._ Then he shifted his feet and lunged.

Squalo escaped backwards into the hallway and began, from what Xanxus could hear, a merry chase back through the manor. The raucousness of their fight obliterated the silence of the manor, but instead of ruining the sense of belonging that Xanxus had picked up from the place, it only seemed to complete it.

A tuft of yellow feathers accompanied a little tweeting bird fluttering into the room. Xanxus sighed heavily as Hibird settled in his hair and began to sing.

He smiled though, and closed his eyes. Now. _Now_ the place felt like home.


End file.
